“I don’t have anything to hide,” Mathews told the Journal on May 15. “I screwed up, and I sent one email from the wrong account. As soon as I saw it, I let everybody know. It wasn’t on purpose.”
Well, now…as it turns out from the open records request we received, that’s not exactly a true statement, is it, Mr. Mayor? In fact, it was more than one email and it certainly appears to have been intentional. We are posting the complaint along with the backup documentation that was submitted. All of this we obtained by open records request.
What will happen now? That’s completely up to the Kennesaw Ethics Committee. The committee is made up of 5 members appointed by the Mayor & Council. The details of the Ethics Committee can be found online here: Municode Online. (Type “Board of Ethics” in the search box.) The bottom line is this: “Any member of the governing authority who knowingly violates any provision of the code of ethics provided for in this section shall be subject to public reprimand or censure by the governing authority of the city.”
We will let you read the Code of Ethics for yourselves, along with the complaint we have provided below. Let us know what you think on whether there is a violation.
(File is 25 pages…wait may take a bit longer than usual).
The committee has 60 days to hear the complaint so they should be meeting soon. It is a public meeting so anyone can attend…if the doors aren’t locked, that is.
Get involved…You ARE Making a Difference!
Tags: city of kennesaw, conflict of interest, ethics violation, mayor mathews, open records, transparency
Glad to see Mayor Mathews so relaxed and stretched out in the audience while he “recused” himself last night. Looks like he is taking this all in stride, he actually looked like he was amused by the whole thing.
Havana…. Did you read the ethics complaint? it’s not just about sending an email, open the attachment and then re-ask your question.
I don’t get it. Is using the wrong e-mail address really a big deal? I don’t get it. Can someone explain why this is important?
Thank you Bill. We will look for the notice and hope to see it soon.
FYI: The five member Ethics Board members are:
Terri Copeland, Chairman
Eileen Alberstadt,
Ed Moses,
Robert Quigley
Kenneth Westmoreland.
The City Clerk advises that they will be meeting July 24th at the Community Center. No agenda has yet been posted, keep an eye on the City site for those details, probably only to be posted a few days before the meeting.
Bill Harris, Kennesaw